Dinner at the Villa

We closed that eventful Friday with a dinner at 'the Villa,' which consisted of bocce and pasta & meatballs.  Doesn't get much better than that!

              

           

JoJo was so hungry she dug into the parmesan

              
Nana T dug into the girls for 'sugar'

            
Then time for horsing around with Dad

          

             

We celebrated Nana T's birthday late

             

            

              

To CA

Weekend before last we drove over to CA for a couple family events -- JoJo's 2nd b-day party and the baptism of our nephew and godson William.  We arrived to my mom and Coach's Thurs. afternoon.  The girls enjoyed chairs Nana T had got them.

Nana T also made us a delicious breakfast.  MM wasn't convinced, though.





Fri. morning we left the girls with the grandparents to go to the mall and buy a new parakeet from the pet store while Bobbins and I tooled around.  We intended to rent bikes and ride around Pasadena, but we couldn't find a store that would rent plain bikes (not super expensive road cycles).  So we went back to the apt., collected our 'son' (aka the Dog) and spent the afternoon at the park, laying on a blanket, reading and talking; the Dog chased squirrels to his heart's delight and bum leg's great pain.

                   

Slide

They sure enjoy their slide

Special Kiss

The Ruling

Majorly disappointed in the Supreme Court's Obamacare ruling today.  I thought for sure it would be overturned.  Even more surprising was that Chief Justice John Roberts went with the Left to uphold the abominable Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as it's officially known.  I kept checking Drudge this morning for the announcement and was depressed when it finally came out about 7:15am AZ time.  I honestly feel like this country as we know it is done for.  That something like this passed Congress and was upheld in the Courts is a fundamental shift in the relationship between Americans and their gov't.  No longer are we a country of liberty with a government of, by, and for the people.  We will now be a social democracy based on government goodies and ruled by an elite class.  Far cry from the free republic envisioned and instituted by the Founders.  Guess it was good while it lasted.  Sure wish my two little daughters weren't inheriting such a screwed-up system.

I know a lot of folks who are hopeful that the Opinion holding Obamacare as a tax plays into Romney's and Republicans' hands in November, and that certainly helps.  Obama explicitly stated it wasn't a tax in campaigning for it, and it really will be the largest tax increase in history.  But I remain pessimistic for two reasons.  1) There's no guarantee we can boot out the Democrats in Congress who brought us this abonimation and get the law repealed, even if it is easier since it's a "tax"; and 2) there are A LOT of Americans who want "free" healthcare, who are glad to see this passed and upheld.  Even if Obamacare is repealed, the groundwork -- it's now constitutional -- for its return has already been laid.  I can't help but feel we're pretty much doomed, if not now in a generation or two.  Maybe not my daughters but my grandkids.

Ready for the Gym

                  

Sunglasses